Ground Control Anthology

Today's RTS have NOTHING on Ground Control. Set in a distant future where corporations fight over resources, you get to command an expeditionary force that expands and get experience with every mission in the campaign. Unless they get killed, in which case they get replaced with rookies - and you will soon find out the difference between battlefield vets and cannon fodder. Infantry is hard to hit but mostly harmless against tanks and wiped out by explosives. Tanks are vulnerable from the rear and from the air. Missile units pack a punch but die fast. Artillery is devastating, shoots in high arcs over the trees and hills, but needs scouts to spot enemies, plus you really don't want those shells landing on your own head. Avoid confusion, or half of your force gets wiped by friendly fire. Your commander is in his command vehicle on the battlefield - take care not to die. All that while the interface is unbelievably simple and all units are shockingly easy to control. No mindless building of swarms of battleship, no spouting off tons of tanks for the final zerg. You have one to three dropships, with up to twelve units deploying - but how you configure and deploy your squads is up to you. Missions are tough, briefings entertaining, background story is fun, and the graphics are rather acceptable even today. If you like RTS, you seriously need to get this one. It remains one of the best of this genre.

I love this game, You can download it here for free (and legally): Great game - you can download it for FREE (and legally) here: Great game - you can download it for FREE (and legally) here: http://download.cnet.com/Ground-Control/3000-2119_4-10044418.html

This is a childhood favorite and it holds up beautifully. I play this in 1024x768 in a 4:3 box with lots of antialiasing and it looks fantastic. It's crazy how cinematic this still is. The missions are designed very carefully and success often comes down to tactical positioning more than anything else (although knowing what comes next is also a big one). The story is great and introduces a small number of memorable characters. Worldbuilding, especially considering the limited production scope at the time, is exceptional. Music, sound effects, voice acting and unit designs are all excellent. It's a unique game that executes on its ideas with confidence and for my money it captivates from start to finish. But let's talk about Dark Conspiracy. The one thing this expansion has going for it is its narrative. It's hard to resist wanting to know how things unfold. Despite DC being even more limited in terms of production design than GC, what is there works and is quite intriguing. The gameplay however... Oh boy. It suffers badly from lack of polish and it's painfully obvious to me that the whole thing was rushed. The Phoenix units are excruciatingly slow (and they also look rather questionable but okay) and the maps which were so critical to what made GC tick are a lot less engaging this time. Units will get stuck on hills. You will traverse endless distances. Phoenix hates pathing. The missions are often a headache. There is stealth now which for me is an unwelcome addition. The game will also do dirty tricks such as landing dropships in the middle of your troops depending on your position. There are nasty mission triggers like your units accidentally destroying critical buildings, or the game hiding marine squads that will destroy crucial units. Also you'll be hunting for crates and escorting units. You have to REALLY want to see how the story plays out to endure this expansion. DC does have heart and charm, but that may not be enough for you to deal with it all.

Runs smoothly, but resolution is limited to 1024x768 but mods apparantly can make it bigger. Also let me switch language on the fly without losing progress

My usual RTS playing style has a strong emphasis on building bases and armies, so initially I expected that Ground Control was not my kind of game. I was totally wrong! I found Ground Control to be a very accessible, addictive and fun game. Of all the RTS games I know, it ranks top (together with Supreme Commander). And it's still far from old-fashioned! Sadly, it's sequel Ground Control 2 was a disappointment for me.